by Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY Sports

by Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY Sports

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson was elated with the re-election of President Obama on Tuesday, but if he had his way, Mitt Romney would be part of the administration, too.

"Just because President Obama is back in power is not as important as all of us pulling together, ''Jackson told USA TODAY Sports. "The best would be for Obama to be president and Romney to be vice-president. We need everyone to come together.

"I get so disappointed when I hear all of the negativity from Republicans against the Democrats and Democrats against Republicans. We need to come together as a nation. Black. White. Hispanics. Jewish. Native Americans.

"We need to have the resolve to work together. It's like when the Yankees have a great team, it helps baseball. When the Knicks and Lakers are great teams, it helps basketball. If the Republicans and Democrats can get together, it will make our country a strong, better place, for everyone.''

Jackson is trying to do his part by hosting his 8th All-Star Celebrity classic in Las Vegas this weekend to raise monies for underprivileged minority students, opening doors in the technology world with his Mr. October Foundation.

"We're trying to help children get to the mainstream of what's going on in the world,'' Jackson said, "and that's technology. The world is moving toward technology. That's where the jobs are.

"When you see some of the top technology companies, you see so few people of color. They are not African American and Latins. They are Indians and Asians. The African-American and Latin-American population makes up 30% of our national population, but only 9% of those people are college educated with jobs in America, and we have only 6% of African-Americans and Latin-Americans in the world of technology.

"We're just not involved, so I'm trying to change that.''

Jackson's foundation funds the calculus program at Eastside College Preparatory in Palo Alto, Calif., and provided five scholarships of $17,000 apiece to the Georgia Tech summer internship program.

"By the year 2018,'' Jackson says, "there will be 1 million job opportunities in the world of technology, but 300,000 of those jobs will go to corporate people outside the U.S.

"We've got to stay competitive, and the only way to get past that is through education and create awareness in the African American and Hispanic American community. We want to mentor and transition studies in their careers. We want to enable students from all walks of like to define their future, and follow their passion.''